How to elevate Utah's low-performing students?: Data-driven, timely interventions

Utah students underperforming in math, language arts or science require timely interventions guided by accurate data to elevate them to proficient levels.

That was the conclusion in an audit report presented Monday to Utah’s Legislative Audit Subcommittee that includes ranking lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.

The audit also revealed a “statewide gap between the performance of students who are in a group that traditionally struggles with academic proficiency, and those who aren’t.”

The report classified “underperforming student groups” as those who have a higher than typical chance of performing below proficiency “and who are economically disadvantaged, learning English, or racial or ethnic minorities.”

Such “underperforming student groups” frequently need the most growth and support, the report added.

Needed: Data-driven ‘intervention adjustments’

Auditors reviewed five years of data showing how many Utah students moved from “below proficient” to “proficient,” and vice versa.

“Looking at the net percentage proficiency change each for five years, the percent of students who changed their proficiency status remained problematically low,” their report noted. “Both state and Local Education Agency (LEA) level observations create a case for school districts and charter schools to reevaluate the effectiveness of their student intervention programs.”

LEAs such as school districts and charter schools, the report recommended, should make an effort to identify students in need “and intervene quickly at the first signs of difficulty.”

The audit staff also recommended that the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) should first review the cycle of student assessment data it collects — and then identify ways to expedite the process to improve turnaround times for local education agencies.

Auditors recognized that possibilities of “internal and external complexities” that might affect a student’s academic performance that can’t be quantified by data, such as the level of support a student receives at home.

A question for top-performing districts: ‘What’s working?’

Top-performing LEAs, according to the report, are executing timely and consistent interventions based on internal student data.

Such high-performing districts and charter schools gather and analyze data in a variety of ways. The auditors noted that some successful LEAs are utilizing internal data to drive their decisions and interventions. Others are utilizing designated data analysis teams.

For example, two high-performing Utah school districts highlighted in the audit provided a shared dashboard allowing individual schools to have visible, usable student data. “To provide this dashboard, these LEAs complete their own internal analysis prior to USBE data becoming available,” the report said.

Another high-performing school district is training school principals each month on how to use data “to conduct root cause analysis for various low performing student groups.”

And finally, another high-performing school district formed data analysis teams that meet every four weeks to review internal student data and reevaluate student placements.

“According to the district, internal student data has the capability to drill down to individual students’ skill sets to ensure timely, targeted interventions,” the report said.

Conversely, low performing school districts report lacking access to timely data even while trying to manage disparate data software programs and insufficient resources.

“Although there have been improvements, multiple LEAs mentioned that student data received from Utah’s State Board of Education (USBE) has not been timely,” the report noted. “For example, one school district reports building in lag time for state-owned program data, which could prolong introducing or adjusting targeted student interventions.”

Repeatedly, the audit emphasized the importance of executing timely decisions based on accurate data.

Such crucial elements “provide quality information for administrators to evaluate the success of implemented initiatives based on student achievement.”

As a caveat, auditors added a statewide “one-size-fits-all approach” to improving interventions is impractical.

“We recognize that implementation methods will depend on the LEA,” the report said, noting that each district has different resources, student populations and geographical regions.

While acknowledging differences between Utah’s LEAs, the audit report attached several recommendations of “Best Practices”:

• Standards-Based Instruction: One school district reports systematizing the Utah Core Standards to create learning rubrics.

“The standards identify basic knowledge, skills, and competencies — teachers create lesson plans based on the standards and instruct their students on core content.”

• Peer Learning: Another LEA understands the value of peer learning. The district spends “significant time” compiling data to identify other LEAs throughout the state that they can learn from.

“Schools within the district meet regularly to learn where they can improve.”

• Early and Consistent Intervention: New students in one LEA are immediately tested to determine appropriate placements.

“Pairing new students needing intervention with the appropriate intervention program is key for student development. For consistency, students needing intervention remain with the same advisory teacher and/or instructional coach.”

5-year study: Stagnating student proficiency levels

Auditors asserted that student performances on previous statewide assessments are considered a “good indicator of future performance.”

Working under that premise, the audit report noted that five years of data reveals that the statewide movement between student proficiency groups “appears to balance out to stagnation.”

“Some of this may be explained by recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic; however, these conclusions remain true over time,” according to the report. “The average net percentage proficiency changes for pre- and post-pandemic school years is below 2%.”

Observations of student proficiency measures between the post-pandemic 2022-2023 school years “appear largely unchanged.”

Poor attendance in the pandemic’s aftermath could be a factor in proficiency drops.

In the years since the pandemic, absenteeism rates in one school district have nearly doubled.

“The largest gap in attendance was for English-language learners, which increased from 19% in 2018 to 38% in 2023,” according to the report.

“This is something that we really need to look into because we need to make sure that we’re providing everyone with a proper education and making sure that they have the tools necessary to be proficient — regardless of whether they are English-learners or whether they’re students who have some struggles,” said House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, following the auditors’ Monday report.

The report noted that Utah’s legislature has responded to chronic absenteeism, passing a law in 2023 directing LEAs to create and implement “evidence-based strategies” to reduce student absenteeism.

Now’s the time, the report concluded, for school districts and charter schools to take a hard look at the effectiveness of their student intervention programs.

“Student interventions should aim to link the root cause of the problem to a specific, targeted intervention that directly addresses the underlying issue,” the report noted.

“Additionally, timely and consistent interventions can significantly reduce the student proficiency gap by providing targeted support when students first show signs of difficulty.”

Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said that the “large group” of “below-proficient” Utah students reflected in the audit is alarming.

“We’re missing the huge gap when we say that we have a good education system,” she said. “Well, it’s failing on average 30 to 40% of our kids when they’re not meeting that minimum criteria.”

Darin Nielsen, Utah State Board of Education Assistant Superintendent of Student Learning, reported to the subcommittee that the state has increased the speed of its data reporting system to Utah’s LEAs.

“We recognize that we play a key role in helping our education community understand how to use results to make instructional decisions about students and student groups,” said Nielsen. “We’ve made a commitment to put more energy around assessment literacy for our leaders.”

Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz concluded the meeting by thanking the state’s education community, noting a U.S. News & World Report ranking the Beehive State as #2 in education in the United States.